Oh Poop.

Alternate Title: "Why I've Had To Alter My Vocabulary Forever And Will Likely Never Look At Chocolate Ice Cream Quite The Same Way Ever Again."

Obviously the first title won out for the sake of brevity, but the alternate title is certainly more accurate. We're still deep in the trenches when it comes to potty learning, but one thing my boys have learned (and learned well) is the power of a well-timed poop joke.

• • • • • • • 

Not my kids, but close. Oh, so close.

When we were still using diapers full-time, my boys would nearly always refer to a poopy diaper as a "surprise" (helpful hint: it was almost never a surprise). On occasion a particularly spectacular poop would be referred to as a "sheetcake" – my boys eat a lot and poop well, so use your imagination here (please). In either case, I often hear one or the other while in the throes of unfastening a diaper.

You might recall that M. and I bought the boys a water table as part of our Canada Day festivities, but in the interest of keeping our national holiday poop-free I'll admit I left out part of the story.

As M. was ushering the boys outside that day to see said water table for the first time he said, "Mommy and Daddy got you a surprise!". The news was met with a bit of a confused pause until Nate piped up in his sweetly inquisitive voice and guessed "sheetcake?".

Which basically means I now refer to any and all surprises as "a treat" because... well, I think the kids thought we were about to present them with poop. Possibly a really spectacular one, but er... that's even worse. Wow. Great fodder for later but I'm not sure where I went wrong on the concept of "surprises".

• • • • • • • 

As for why I will likely never look at chocolate ice cream quite the same way again...

... the answer can be found here. In the event that you are squeamish, the link does not contain poop of any kind, but rather my boys (inspired) musings over dessert last night.

I promised I wouldn't say (outright) who was responsible for this particular debacle so I won't, but it wasn't me this time. It might however be someone who thought teaching the boys this caper was "a very uncouth" sort of thing to do (see comments).

Oh, irony.

- L.

Potty Learning: The Try, Try, Try Again Edition

Gamma Rita arrived last Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning we hit the ground running with Operation Potty Learning: Third Time's The Charm. Today was Day 5 of our venture and while not much has been happening in the potties per se, we're encouraged nonetheless.

My boys have typically been enthusiastic potty sitters for the most part, especially if there are books involved and most especially if stories are being read aloud. On the third day of our venture into Potty-Learning-Or-Bust, we visited the library and came across a great find.

Ian's New Potty was an instant hit and Nate and Seth love hearing all about Ian and his big-boy adventures. It was a timely find too since this time around we decided to skip the Pull-Ups and went straight for the big-boy underpants. Coincidentally, Ian also wears big-boy underpants while learning to use the potty and by a stroke of complete luck he also has a red potty.

I've easily read the story at least 15 times by now, but my boys are always eager to hear what Ian will be doing next (hint: we've learned more from this book than just potty-related things).

In the past 5 days (but especially the last 3) we've learned:

• Big-boy underpants are awesome.

• Accidents happen, but wet underpants don't feel very nice.

• How to hold it until Mommy nearly starts to worry.

• Sometimes how to say "Potty!" in time, even if a trip to the potty doesn't actually result in anything before we're "All done!" with said potty (usually followed by an accident and some wet underpants that don't feel very nice).

• How to eat a big-boy sandwich! Not potty-related, but Ian eats a big-boy sandwich in the book (because he is a big boy of course) and if nothing else comes of this venture I think the days of cubing up a sandwich into pieces are finally over – to which I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

I'm taking all of the above as positive signs and I think all we need at this point is a break-through in production.

Gamma Rita made an excellent observation today while we were both feeling a little discouraged over 5 days of no one actually doing anything in the potties:

"If we knew in advance that there'd be a breakthrough 3 weeks from now – even though it would be 3 weeks from now – we'd keep going and not even give this a second thought."

And aside from being perfectly true, I have a feeling it's what's going to keep us going. I'm 100% sure my boys are at least having a good time and at least 95% sure that they are really and truly ready to give up the diapers. Also, I have a good feeling about things this time around.

Maybe it's the summer weather or maybe it's that Gamma Rita showed up with a plan and so far it's not been a complete disaster at least.

Or maybe it's as simple as those big-boy underpants. I did mention they were a hit after all.

Of course, I might have left out a few details about why they're such a hit. 

And once again, I find myself with yet another post that would not be complete without a little of this: 

"FORE-STAINS!"

Really and truly, I can't believe I never saw that one coming, but I sure did make a mad dash for the camera this morning.

- L.

"I Steal Them!"

While I don't endorse stealing in general, I have to admit I've enthusiastically encouraged the "stealing" of my shoes at least. Lately, we've branched out into "Mommy's boots" and I get a laugh out of the boys clomping around the house in my winter boots while I'm fixing a meal shouting, "I steal them!".

Today my boys discovered the much coveted "Mommy's blue jean jacket!" was within arms reach, as was "Mommy's big jacket!". They needed a little help putting them on, but it was worth stepping away from the kitchen counter to assist. They even stood pretty still while I grabbed the camera, although Seth was looking a tad over it by the time I snapped the shutter. 

– Are you there God? Is me, Seth. 

Still, if you've seen anything cuter than this (at least today), I don't want to know. I'm not sure my eyeballs could take it.

- L.

"Fix The Nate!"

"Fix the Nate!" ended up taking the #1 spot on my list of favorites when it comes to the things my boys currently say. And by "ended up" I mean it was pretty much a landslide victory. There is absolutely no way that expression is going to disappear any time soon and truth be told, probably never. 

"Fix the Nate!" was borne one night not long after the cribs were transitioned into toddler beds and within a night or two after my boys decided sharing a bed was the way to go. It started with a bit of a skirmish over whose side of the bed was what now and ended up with a pile of toddlers in a mashed-up state on the same side of the bed.

At which point, Seth requested with a note of escalating alarm that I "Fix the Nate!".

And so I did. I "fixed the Nate" who at the time was more or less trying to sit on his brother's head – hence the alarm – and in hindsight was on the wrong side of the bed anyway*.

It all could have ended there that night and maybe wound up as a one-off post about something funny that was said once upon a time, except that the requests to "Fix the Nate!" keep rolling in – many of which were (and still are) from Nate himself.

Remember this photo? 

I originally captioned it "Mommy fix it!" which was legit since that was in fact something Nate actually said at the time. Not captioned (but equally legit) was Seth's missive to "Fix the Nate!" and Nate's own plea that followed "Mommy fix it!", which echoed his brother's sentiments:

"Fix the Nate!" 

- L.

• • • • • • • 

PS. "Fix the Seth!" has been known to show up here and there but it never seems to have the same enthusiasm behind it, nor has Seth ever put in a request for his own "fixing", in case you were wondering.

PPS. Also in case you were wondering, "Fix the Nate!" – at least for Nate – does sometimes mean Nate would like things fixed *for* "the Nate". You know, in case you were feeling badly that Nate is in perpetual need of "fixing". To the contrary, his own indications for "fixing" so far appear to be entirely self-serving.

• • • • • • • 

*It would appear that there is a right and wrong side of the bed when it comes to my boys since they started bedsharing. The only positions they will go to sleep in are left: Seth and right: Nate. This threw me for a loop the one night someone got sick in the preferred bed and I had to relocate everyone to the less preferred bed. I tucked Nate in against the back crib rail since I thought that was how things worked, but I was quickly corrected. Nate is only comfortable sleeping on the right side of Seth, while Seth is only comfortable sleeping on the left side of Nate.

And maybe it's all a crazy coincidence but that was also how they slept, navigated and played in the womb – heads together, Nate on the right and Seth on the left – and I'd almost buy the 50% odds of it being completely random if not for the fact that they're so incredibly insistent on it. 

The Things They Say: Top 5 Best & Worst

I recently added a new label called "the things they say", since none of the made-up conversations I've come up with over the past two years can even begin to hold a candle to the things my boys actually say these days. 

A couple of weeks ago I started a top 5 list of some of my favorites, as well as a top 5 list of some of my not-so-favorites. For some reason, the "Top 5 Worst" list came together more quickly than the "Top 5 Best", although I can say without a doubt that the #1 best saying of all time was the impetus for the list in the first place.

"Aloo shoes" and "I-dee-dee" are the relics of days gone by now. Ditto for "Leggy-bugs", "Chup-up", and "Pah-guts"*. The endless clamoring for "Reetins! Reetins! Reetins!" until we all thought we would lose our minds has long since been replaced by a simple request for raisins. Hum is now home.

And so it is now – for every ounce of posterity that's in it – I present my top picks for Best & Worst sayings that are currently in use:

The Worst:

By "worst", I mean the ones that drive me up a wall mainly due to the frequency with which they are used. Repetition might be a toddler's best friend, but I can tell you it's often a crazy-maker for Mommy. 

#5. "No singing!" 

– "No singing!" first appeared on the scene last winter anytime I would, you know, sing. It gave me a bit of a complex to be honest. I mean, while I wouldn't win any contests, I don't think my singing is that bad. I can carry a tune (at least most of the time), but I'll admit I felt heaps better when my boys started declaring "no singing!" around others as well.

Of course, at some point I recalled all the times I would sing them to sleep as babies when they were too young to object. Now I wonder if they only pretended to be asleep so I'd quit it with the singing already.

#4. "Piece of fuzz!" 

– "Piece of fuzz!" applies to actual pieces of fuzz, but also includes random things like clothing tags, loose threads and finely chopped food items/spices. Much like the dirt on the cheese crackers, my boys are semi-convinced I occasionally put fuzz in their food. Oy.

Originally, pieces of fuzz were met with a reaction similar to how one might react at the discovery of a spider on oneself – or at least how I would react to that particular discovery (read: general hysteria). Now they are simply pointed at while the discover-ee says "Piece of fuzz! Piece of fuzz! Piece of fuzz, Mommy!" on a loop until the offending fuzz has been removed.

#3. "Uh-oh! Va-va go!"

– Although my boys are well capable of saying "water" and will refer to bath water as "water" for example, water in their sippy cups has always been known as "va-va". And when said water in sippies is accidentally dropped (or more likely deliberately flung) the logical thing to say of course is, "Uh-oh! Va-va go!".

Unfortunately, things that "go" doesn't end at va-va – it's just the most popular and the original source of the "things that go" trend. Seth especially gets pretty worked up over things that "go". You can (sort of) see him in action here, but the hour was late and instead of doing his usual running litany he kept it simple for once with "Uh-oh! Stuff go!".

#2. "Kiss a bonk!" & "Itchy nose!"

"Kiss a bonk!" predates "Itchy nose!", but they are used to the same end – and although they can (and have been) used separately, these days you are more likely to hear them in succession, a la "Itchy nose and bonk!".

Very rarely do either have anything to do with an actual bonk or an itchy nose ("itchy" is how my boys refer to a runny nose in case you were wondering what that's about). On the contrary, "itchy nose and bonk" comes into play mostly in the following scenarios:

Brother steals your toy? Itchy nose and bonk!
Mommy says no more cookies? Itchy nose and bonk!
Time for bed? Itchy nose and bonk!

I'm sure you get the idea, and really it's sort of cute/funny the first 50 odd times you hear it in a day and grab a real tissue to wipe at an imaginary itchy nose while bestowing a kiss on an equally fake "bonk". After that though? Maybe not so much.

"Kiss a bonk" is pretty established at this point and typically a kiss on the top of the head gets the job done. That said, it's not completely out of the ordinary for those bonks to appear elsewhere. Some of my favorites have included, "Kiss the shirt!", "Kiss the sock!" and most famously, "Kiss the behind!".

#1. "I think so!"

Such an innocent sounding phrase, but it's place at the top of my least favorite sayings list is well-earned.

Every day without fail my boys pick a word du jour that is used to mean "general pandemonium time now!". Today's word was "washing machine" as an example – and it was trotted out liberally for such fun times as toy throwing, food flinging and making a rather spirited mess with sippy cups. Of course, all of the scenarios included the requisite shouting of "washing machine" – or worse, "MORE washing machine!" – followed by fits of giggles at Mommy losing her marbles and being forced to say ridiculous things like, "No more washing machine! I mean it!".

Tomorrow they will move on to a new word, and trust me when I say it won't matter in the least what that word is because by the end of the day I can guarantee it will be the most irksome word I've ever heard.

Except for "I think so!".

"I think so!" gets top billing since it was the first phrase my boys used to let me know it was, in fact, "general pandemonium time now" and they terrorized me with that particular saying for a solid week. In fact, "No more I think so's!" is still something the boys say – pretty much around about the time it's clear Mommy is about to lose it completely.

Want to see me twitch? Drop an "I think so!" into casual conversation. Fun!

• • • • • • • 

The Best: 

#5: "Oh my goodness boodness!" 

This is mostly a Nate-ism, but I've heard Seth use it too. It's used appropriately to express surprise. I have no idea what the boodness is about, but you can't have an "Oh my goodness!" without the "boodness" around here. Super-adorable, whatever it means.

#4. "It's a mystery!"

This one is mostly a Seth-ism, but Nate is certainly no stranger to the magical powers of "it's a mystery!".

"It's a mystery!" more or less translates to "I don't know" and often comes into play following an "Uh-oh! *Something* go!" incident when I'm not able to locate whatever it is that "went". Often my boys will steer me in the right direction when it comes to missing toys for example – and usually they aren't so much missing as hidden in some semi-unreachable place. Other times? Well, "it's a mystery!".

"It's a mystery" is always preceded by a thoughtful pause – the cuteness of which has a lot to do with it's magical properties. Keep in mind it diffuses even the worst of the "Uh-oh! *Something* go!" shenanigans in an instant. It also comes in handy in the following scenario:

Me: "Hey! How did water get all over the floor?"
N/S: *pause*... "It's a mystery!"

Clearly there isn't too much that's mysterious about that situation other than maybe which one of my boys was the perp, but I find myself cleaning up messes without question and having a bit of a giggle when they play the "mystery" card. See? Magical properties!

#3. "That's a machine, alright!" 

I covered this one over here. It's still very much a popular phrase and it still hasn't stopped making me laugh.

#2. "Nate and Seth are best friends!"

I'm sure I don't need to write a single word to tell you why this is on my list of favorites, other than to say my boys really are best friends and I love so much that they are. 

They are each Felix to the other's Oscar. 

• • • • • • • 

You're probably wondering how "Nate and Seth are best friends!" only made the #2 spot. I wrestled with it a little myself, but here's the thing: while Nate and Seth are best friends and I hope they always will be, there's probably a limited shelf life on them actually expressing that in so many words. At some point it will simply become an understood thing.

And much like the "Reetins!" of yore, all of these expressions that either make me laugh or want to tear my hair out will go by the wayside also. "It's a mystery" is probably not going to seem as cute when the boys are teenagers and I'm pretty sure they won't be asking me to wipe their noses or "kiss a bonk" anymore by that point either.

I can however, guarantee that the #1 spot on my favorites list will still be haunting at least one of my boys through his college years and beyond.

It's that good.

And since it's that good, I've decided it deserves a post all it's own.

Until next time then.

- L.

*Aloo shoes = blue shoes. I-dee-dee = ice cream. Leggy-bugs = ladybugs. Chup-up = Ketchup. Pah-guts** = Patty-cakes.

**I originally thought "Pah-guts!" was twin-speak for something to do with bedtime/saying goodnight, to the point I started saying "Goodnight... and pah-guts!" because it seemed suitable. It wasn't until we were reading Mother Goose one day and Nate pointed at the "Patty Cake" page and exclaimed "Pah-guts!" that the "mystery" was solved. That incident certainly gave me pause when it came to being definitive about declaring "Anasahnize!" and "Fore-stains!" as real examples of OP cryptophasia, but rest assured, the fore-stains et al are legit.

• • • • • • •

PS. Last October between the big Hallowe'en photo-shoot (courtesy of my dear friend Padrin) and the bath-time splish-splash pics, "Uncle P" took some random candid shots of me and my sweet boys just hanging out. They certainly weren't intended to be masterpieces, but they are without a doubt some of my favorite photos of my sons and I together. I've been hoarding them, but this seemed like an appropriate post to finally share since they are also very much some of my favorite things.

Working on my drum technique.

Excelling at my tickle technique.

In Case It Looks Like We Live At The Kitchen Table...

We don't – even though it feels that way most days. What can I say? Mealtimes at the OP are lengthy affairs.

I could say it's due to the volumes of food my boys inhale during the course of any given meal since that would be at least partly true – my boys are growing and have the appetites to show for it. Heaven knows our hour long plus mealtimes are certainly not because they eat particularly slowly.

No.

This right here though:

This is the real reason and in case you need a hint, I'll tell you that it starts with "shen" and ends with "anigans". That look Seth is giving speaks volumes.

And so it was on. 

– "FORE-STAINS!"*

Today's "breakfast special" also included some very creative clothing rearranging: 

In case you couldn't tell, Nate was pretty pleased with himself. Well, at least until the novelty wore off.

"Mommy fix it!"

Don't worry, I did. : ) 

- L.

*Fore-stains is a recent addition to our cryptophasia catalog at the OP. To be honest, I'm still trying to suss out the nuances but at this point I do know that touching their heads together in a mind-meld fashion constitutes "Fore-stains!" without question. Other examples include something that looks like they're trying to suffocate each other with pillows and mashing one's face into someone else's hand.

In an act of silliness last week while changing the boys' bedding, I balanced a balled up sheet on top of my head expecting a laugh. Instead Nate declared, "Mommy doing fore-stains!" and Seth agreed ("Mommy is doing fore-stains!"). They seemed pretty excited about it actually.

So other than fore-stains obviously having something to do with one's head, the rest is a bit of a mystery – to me at least – but it's quite clear whatever it means, it makes perfect sense to my boys

- L.

Getting Your Kids To Eat Their Veggies The Easy Way

Alternate post title: A Dozen For You And One For Me!

Step 1: Have at least 2 children who appreciate the fine art of shenanigans at your disposal.

Step 2: Seat them within easy reaching distance of each other. 

Step 3: Serve veggies.

You can thank me later. In the meantime, there is a video should you require further instruction.

- L.

PS. My guys really are outdoing themselves this week. 

Instant Classic.

I titled this post after a post label because when you have an instant classic on your hands, you just know.

And in the spirit of "no fanfare, no fuss", here it is:

Enjoy!

- L.

PS. Despite the challenges of being a mom to twins at times, it really is moments like these* that make it all worth it. This photo has had me laughing for days, especially since my boys aren't big nose-pickers and I was actually trying to take photos of something else entirely when this happened.

*Moments like these** actually happen every day. I just happened to get lucky with the camera this time.

**Just to clarify, I don't mean nose picking moments*** – just generally funny stuff that I don't often accidentally capture with the camera.

***You know, in case you thought my boys were nose picking fiends****.

****Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Best. Video. Ever.

Oh, hi again everyone. I realize I said we were back two weeks ago and then we kind of fell off the radar again. I was working on sorting through the past two ( three?) months of photos and culling something together for a new post – which is harder than I thought it would be since there's so much catching up to do – when something unexpected appears to have happened.

I'm still somewhat in denial, but I'm pretty sure my boys are gearing up to ditch their afternoon nap. Just to be clear, they ditched their morning nap AGES ago, so I'm talking about the other one.

The one break I was still able to get during the day. The one where I could get stuff done (like blog) or maybe catch a nap myself.

That one.

It's all out the window for now. There has officially been no napping of any kind (not even of the lousy 15 minute variety) for the past 3 days.

It's too soon for this, right?

It is.

I know this.

You know this.

But trying to reason with toddlers is like...

Well, it's a lot like trying to reason with toddlers actually.

They're too tired to pull it off successfully and the cracks in their plan are showing. Seth fell asleep in the stroller late morning while we were out running errands – and you can't wake them when something like that happens. And by "can't" I don't mean "I didn't have the heart to" because I gave him a poke. I literally mean he just slept through my attempts to wake him up.

So I knew the afternoon nap was also probably not going to happen yesterday. Despite my attempts to wear everyone out, the only person I wore out was myself. At least at nap time.

Unlike Seth, Nate did not catch a nap during our morning errands. He did however, find the time to nod off as I was clearing the table after supper.

Zzzzz...

Of course, I took some pics and then woke him up. It was a little too close to bedtime not to, while simultaneously not being close enough to bedtime to actually make it bedtime. Pandemonium ensued.

Seth got in on the action too.

Oh, the cranky pants were out in full force. There was weeping. And wailing. And possibly some gnashing of teeth. It was a scene.

In the midst of it all, I made the executive decision to skip dessert (nobody cared) and whisked the boys directly off to the bath (everyone universally approved) in the hopes that it would lead to an early bedtime at the very least.

It did not of course – bedtime was pretty much regular bedtime, but...

The bath perked everyone up so much I thought it might be a good time to try to get some pics of Seth and the technicolor red cheeks he was sporting through dinner and his bath since that's sort of the other reason we fell off the radar (once again) over here.

There is a major teething situation going on.

Seth has always suffered more with teething than his brother and it's been a slow and painful road for him – but much like Nate, who got his first 10 teeth or so at regular intervals and then went on to get the rest of his teeth all at once (this was miserable btw and I would have mentioned it except we were probably having another lapse in posting at the time) – it would appear that Seth is following in his brother's footsteps.

I'm not sure I've seen drooling to this extent before and I have witnessed my fair share. And then there were those technicolor red cheeks.

So I thought I'd take some pics and this would be a short post about my woes with a sleepy Nate and a red-cheeked Seth and me mumbling some excuses about the lack of new posts.

Except Seth didn't have technicolor red cheeks by the time I showed up with the camera, but I figured I'd take some pics anyway.

At first I wasn't having much luck getting a shot of Seth. 

– Hi everyone. I is awake now!
– Oh, hi everyone. I looking for Legos! I is busy playing put-away.

Seth is a great helper by the way as well as fastidious about order in general, and since we were winding things down for the night he was busy putting the "Legos" away. For the record, Nate needs to work on this skill a little, but I have a feeling it will be a hard sell. They are shaping up rather nicely as the next generation Odd Couple. 

– I is smiling because I not looking for Legos. I has brother to do that for me.
– Sorry everyone. Very busy. No time for chats right now. 

– Still busy. I is man on the move. There is still legos to find! 

– I is admiring fruits of my labors now, but only for little bit. Legos might be all done, but 'dis room not tidy yet.

Now you might be asking yourself at this point, what does any of this have to do with the "Best. Video. Ever."? Well, nothing really, except to say some of my favorite videos of the boys are the ones where I think I'm filming one thing and then something totally unexpected and wonderful happens. This was one of those times.

At first I thought I was shooting Seth putting away the Legos. Then I thought I was filming him doing a silly little dance that we call the Bojangles. And while I did get some footage of both of those things (and will hopefully have time to post them at some point), none of this was in the making of the Best. Video. Ever.

No.

Because what happened next was so much more awesome than any of that. The very best part happens around the 1 minute mark, but the lead-in is pretty hilarious too. Go check it out.

- L.

Conversations With Nate

The vocabulary around here is pretty much off the hook, but I'm only halfway convinced Nate and I had our first conversation today because I'm in heavy denial about how fast my babies are growing up I suppose. Still, here it is (just in case this was the real deal):

Nate: I know! I know! I KNOOOOOWWWW!

Mommy: Awhhh. What you know, Nate?

*pause*

Nate: I no know.

- L.

Seating Arrangements

I decided to try out a new seating arrangement in the kitchen yesterday. Now that Nate and Seth are no longer eating pureés – and in fact, refuse to eat anything that is not a self-serve finger food – it's no longer necessary for me to sit between them furiously wielding a spoon back and forth. I decided to place the highchairs side-by-side facing the window, which means not only no more Home Depot DIY backdrop for Seth, but better lighting too – all the better to admire his big, blue eyes by.

And all his new hair too! It might be business in the front, but Seth has definitely been busy growing a party in the back.

– I make 'dis mullet work, everyone! 

– Tho' I forget what I is doing here. I feel like answer is right in front of me though. 

– Oh yes. Is right in front of me! Is breakfast. Mommy make french toast and bananas. 'Dis my favorite breakfast in the whole world. 

– Seriously everyone. French toast and bananas. If you is not eating 'dis right now you should stop reading and go get some. Is delicious. 

– Especially the maple syrup. 'Dis best part. Nom. 

– Does you need some help with that, Seth? Look everyone, I is helping!
– I don't know 'bout 'dis new seating arrangement, but I is pursing my lips in disapproval at 'dis business. Nobody mess with my breakfast!

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: Nate wasn't wasting any time at breakfast yesterday and finished well before Seth which did clue me in to at least one potential flaw in the new side-by-side arrangement.

No worries though – I was able to distract Nate by scrubbing all the syrup stickies off him. His shirt ended up going straight to the laundry hamper however. 

– French toast and impromptu fakey nakey time? 'Dis my lucky day everyone!

And lastly, a photo I nearly overlooked... 

"Why, I oughta..."

... until I noticed Seth's expression and couldn't stop laughing for a good 10 minutes. It's still giving me the giggles. Seriously, don't mess with his breakfast everyone!

- L.

Like A Bridge

– If you is weary, 

– Or feeling small,
– If tears is in your eyes,
– I will dry 'dem all.

– I's on your side everyone,
– If times is rough.
– Just look at these pics,
– Anytime.
– It will be enough. 

– Uh-oh. I is losing my train of thought here. Something to do with troubled waters maybe?

– Is OK. I find it again. Troubled waters is reminding me 'bout the bath I just had. Bath was not so fun everyone... 

– ... but my after-bath fauxhawk is the awesome!

- L.

Edited to add a link to my latest YouTube™ favorite. This song has been in my head for days – I think because it popped in there apropos of nothing and as a result I checked out Art Garfunkle singing it live on the interwebs. It's almost as awesome as Nate's after-bath fauxhawk. 

Up!

Only two days after Seth said "Book!" for the first time, he followed it up with "Up!", and since one of this favorite things to do is to take books off the shelf and put them back up, he was saying "Book up!" the very same day.

"Up" quickly became his favorite new word. And mine too. Seth would get such a kick out of it if you said "Up!" back at him. So I did. Even when he said it out of context, I'd still parrot it back because it was so stinkin' cute. I wasn't alone in this by the way – *ahem* *cough* *you-know-who-you-are* – it really is pretty irresistible in everyone's defense.

And now, of course, the word has lost all meaning and is just said at random times when nothing in particular is "Up!". I guess what I'm trying to say is that Seth's budding vocabulary has inadvertently been set back by cuteness and so it seems appropriate to borrow a phrase from him to make it OK. Here it is:

"Sorry everyone!".

BTW, there's a new video "Up!" on our YouTube™ channel with Seth's "Up!" shenanigans, including evidence of me participating in this vocabulary destroying debacle. Nate gets in on the action toward the end too, so you'd better get on "Up!" and over there to check it out.

- L.

PS. Don't miss the bonus teething moment: flying drool at the 1:15 second mark or thereabouts. You've been warned.

The Touching Finger

*touch* 

I caught this pose randomly when I was taking pictures of Nate and Seth in their new birthday outfits (not to be confused with birthday suits btw, which you can safely assume would be their preference). Not a great shot in general, but a pretty good silhouette of the hand-dynamics behind the Touching Finger. I say "pretty good" since the Touching Finger is normally fully extended when approaching a touchable object. This was clearly shot mid-touch.

This isn't an easy hand gesture either. I have fairly flexible fingers and cannot manage to even come close to accomplishing it, but the finer points are thus:

1. Middle finger fully extended (some of you might be good at this part, but I assure you the rest is hard). 
2. Index finger pulled back completely, as though it is in the way. 
3. All other fingers (plus thumb) are in a relaxed state. 

If you can accomplish all of the above with ease, then get touching! It's apparently the way to go.

*touch* *touch* *touch*

I first alluded to the Touching Finger in this post where Nate was giving careful examination to a Cheerio. Things that are new are always greeted with touches. 

And when you're only 12 months old, there's a lot that's new. Like the first time he spent some one-on-one time with this guy:

Poor Teddy got his eye poked and poked and poked. Er... I mean "touched". A lot.

Remember this photo? 

It was an add-on to a post that had nothing to do with anything really, but I liked it enough to want to include it. At the time I said:

I took this picture last week and while it's not the greatest photo ever, there's something about it that I love. It's very Nate and I wanted to post it before it got lost in the shuffle (as things do when you're chasing two rather mobile babies around all day). Much like his brother, he has a way of looking at the camera that just takes my breath away. 

I didn't know then that I would someday be writing a post about the Touching Finger, but I can now admit that one of the things about that photo that I loved was the Touching Finger in action and that's at least part of what I meant when I said, "it's very Nate". The rest really is the way he's looking at the camera. That's very Nate too btw.

You were probably too distracted the first time you saw this photo to even notice the Touching Finger. 

Cute baby + cute costume and a pumpkin too? I almost didn't catch it, but this is probably one of the best shots of the Touching Finger in all its glory. 

And just in case you hadn't already picked up on this... 

It's an ambidextrous touch. The Touching Finger knows no bounds and is very equal opportunity that way (especially when it comes to blueberries).

And lastly, the photo that finally prompted me to write this long-awaited-much-anticipated post: 

While digging through The Vault, I came across a picture I took when Nate was all of 4 days old, Touching Finger on full display even in the throes of much upset.

Honestly, it took at least a few weeks after he was born before I even noticed Nate's endearing affectation and yet he'd been doing it right from the beginning – which made me think he probably didn't just start doing this on Day 4. Looking back it seems more likely he was already practicing his special Nate brand touching style before birth, perhaps right around the same time babies learn how to suck their thumb in utero.

It makes me wonder how many of the smaller movements I felt around that time were actually Touching Finger touches.

*touch* *touch* *touch*

- L.

PS. The last time I mentioned the Touching Finger was here. I think everyone attending was a little surprised that Nate chose to use his index finger at the time, but over the last week I've seen him doing this more and more – which as a mommy, makes me a little melancholy already. I felt it was time to write this post for reference just in case.